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Hawke's Bay Motor Co Ltd v Russell

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Hawke's Bay Motor Co Ltd v Russell
CourtCourt of Appeal of New Zealand
Full case name Hawke's Bay Motor Company Limited v Russell
Citation[1972] NZLR 542
Court membership
Judge sittingBeattie J
Keywords
negligence

Hawke's Bay Motor Co Ltd v Russell [1972] NZLR 542 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding liability in negligence, and the legal concept of res ipsa loquitur[1]

Background

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A bus owned by Hawkes Bay Motor Company was struck on a bend in a road by a car driven on the wrong side of the road by Russell. They later sued Russell for the cost of the damage, to which Russell successfully defended on the basis that he had blacked out due to a medical condition.

HBMC appealed that under res ipsa loquitur, that due to the facts here, the onus of proof should be of Russell to prove the medical condition.

Held

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The court ruled that this doctrine did not apply here.

References

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  1. ^ McLay, Geoff (2003). Butterworths Student Companion Torts (4th ed.). LexisNexis. ISBN 0-408-71686-X.